That's That
by SamCyberCat
Summary: Layton and Emmy meet up again for the first time since she left. Layton/Emmy.


**Notes:** An early birthday gift for Zillabean; though I'm sorry it's just fluff. Set sometime after PL3, with vague spoilers for most of the games. Accepts that we don't know what happens to Emmy post-PL6 yet, so based on a fanon idea of what could have happened.

* * *

Hershel Layton has, in the past, made two different flying machines out of junk lying around a room – one was used to escape a collapsing tower and the other to get out of the reach of hungry wolves. He has built a machine gun out of a slot machine, to fight off mafia goons assaulting him. The sword fights he's been involved in are almost countless, and include one particular bout that took place on top of a giant mechanical contraption, while Layton was using a drainpipe instead of a sword to fight his opponent. The man has saved London a fair few times too, often using only his wit as a weapon.

Many would say that he was a brave and probably fearless person.

But for a person who was apparently brave and probably fearless he was having a lot of trouble making a single phone call to his former assistant, Emmy Altava.

"She's been back in London for a few days now and she's going to think you don't like her if you don't call soon," his housekeeper, Rosa, had chided unhelpfully.

Layton told her that he was very much aware of this and that he was simply preparing himself for such an important call to a friend he had not seen for a long time. He also pointed out that there was nothing stopping Emmy from calling him, if she wanted to. To this, Rosa just scorned him for being hopeless and left.

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Layton knew that he was nervous about the call.

Thinking back to a few years ago, he didn't begrudge Emmy for taking up the offer to travel the continent, solving crimes alongside Inspector Grosky. She was a very capable young lady who Scotland Yard would benefit from having working with them. Besides, this would allow her to see more of the world than she would do just travelling around England with him. He had, of course, felt sad when it was time for her to go, but knew that this had been her choice and it was his duty as a gentleman to respect that.

After she had left, he had certainly felt a hole in his life from losing a valued friend and a good assistant. Often he found himself wishing that Emmy would return for even a short time, but her work kept her busy. Layton, too, was a very busy man and soon found himself distracted by all the mysteries that were thrown in his direction.

However, when Luke also left, moving to America with his family, suddenly Layton felt himself missing them both more and more. They had once been a trio, working together to unravel riddles and capture villains, but now it was just him, Professor of Archaeology at Gressenheller University, and his beloved daughter Flora keeping him company. Both going about their ordinary and ultimately dull lives.

He longed for his old friends to visit, even once. But somehow, now that he knew Emmy was back, Layton couldn't bring himself to even say hello to her.

The thought that Emmy might believe he was avoiding her that Rosa had implanted in his head was far too much to cope with, however, and he soon found himself staring at the end of a phone receiver, trying to remember the number for the Scotland Yard line that he had been provided with.

After that hesitation, he dialled and waited until someone picked up on the other end.

"Hello Emmy, its Hershel Layton. I was just calling to-"

"Hold on a minute, I'll patch you through to her," droned a voice on the other end, making Layton feel very embarrassed about his assumption. It turned out that 'patch you through to her' was code for 'yell down the hallway to Emmy that Hershel Layton wanted to talk to her', but Layton didn't complain.

After a moment of silence, he heard a voice that had been missing from his life for too long; "Professor? Is that you?"

"Y-yes, Emmy. I was just calling to… to see how you were," Layton mumbled.

"Very well, thank you. All the better for hearing from you. Sorry that I hadn't called you, but there's been a lot of paperwork to catch up on with me coming back to London," she told him.

Good, so she hadn't rung because she was busy, not because she was avoiding him. A weight that Layton hadn't even realised had been on his shoulders was lifted.

"I'm sure you've been quite busy," he agreed, "But if you haven't got too much work and it isn't any trouble, I wouldn't mind seeing you again to catch up."

"Of course it isn't any trouble! Seeing you was next on my list of things to do after finishing up here anyway. We've certainly got a lot to talk about. I've heard that you adopted a daughter while I was away. And don't think all that news coverage of you stopping a giant robot that was trying to crush London escaped my ears either. The life of Professor Layton; some things never change, eh?" Emmy chattered, cheerfully.

Layton wished that he felt things hadn't changed in his life quite as much as Emmy believed they hadn't. If one thing remained constant since her leaving and coming back then he hadn't banked on it being giant robots.

"Whenever you're free I'll be glad to meet up with you," he promised.

"Great! I'll pop by later this afternoon then," said Emmy.

"W-wonderful. Looking forward to it," gulped Layton, finding himself worrying about how little time that gave him to prepare.

"See you then," concluded Emmy, before they both said goodbye and hung up.

It was silly of him to worry. Emmy knew him very well and he didn't have to spend time practising airs and graces to talk to her. Looking around, though, he did think that it couldn't hurt to clean up the house a little before she got there. Luke had always done most of the cleaning and in the boy's absence Layton's clutterbug habits had escalated.

By the time the doorbell chimed later that day, the Professor was still finishing up cleaning the last of the mess.

"Professor, are you here?" called Emmy. She'd let herself in, as was her way. He was glad to see even subtle signs that she hadn't changed.

"Yes, just putting away a few books. Pleasure to see you," replied Layton, dashing through to the hall, "Why don't you come through to the living room? I've got some tea ready."

"You seem skittish," Emmy commented, following him to the living room all the same, "Don't tell me that you've lost your nerve since I last saw you."

"Nothing of the sort. I'm just… well, maybe a bit nervous about seeing one of my closest friends again after so long, if I'm honest," Layton said, chuckling awkwardly.

"Then you've got no need to be," Emmy scolded, taking a seat, "I'm still the same woman who was once your assistant. Just a bit more travelled, that's all."

"You certainly look as if you've been spending a healthy amount of time in the sun," commented Layton, noting the slight brown tinge of her skin. He then hoped it wasn't too bold to comment on such a thing.

Waving his words away dismissively, Emmy replied, "I'm sure that you've hardly been sat inside the whole time either."

"I have been on a lot of adventures, as you'd probably expect. But after the whole fiasco with Clive's rampage on London I've sort of settled down a little. Running around the country just isn't the same without you and Luke by my side," Layton admitted.

"Well now that I'm back you can break that habit right out of you," said Emmy, "We'll be back to solving the mysteries of rural England again before you know it. And I'm sure even if Luke isn't here, that your daughter would be glad to join us."

"Y-yes," murmured Layton. He didn't feel it was right to tell Emmy that he often left Flora behind on purpose to reduce the risk to her. On that subject, perhaps Emmy would be a good influence on Flora… After this moment's reflection, he noticed the implication of something else in her statement and asked, "Does that mean you'll be returning to London for good?"

"'For good' is a very broad term, Professor. I can't say for sure that I won't be required to leave again to deal with more issues abroad at a later date, but for the moment I'm stationed to stay here, yes," answered Emmy.

"I'm so glad to hear that," Layton said, smiling earnestly.

"You certainly sound like you are," Emmy giggled.

"Ah, um… sorry if I came across too eager there," Layton mumbled.

"Oh, stop worrying so much," Emmy replied, "I'm glad to see you, you're glad to see me, and there's nothing wrong with that."

"Of course not," said Layton, still feeling embarrassed.

"I'm actually glad to hear that you missed me…" Emmy said, suddenly seeming a bit more sombre.

"There was never a chance that I wouldn't miss you," Layton assured her.

"No, but I mean that you missed me so… heartily," Emmy clarified, "There are a lot of people in your life and you're so nice to almost everyone, even those who probably don't deserve it. So I was worried that you'd just miss me in the same way that you'd miss any of your acquaintances."

"My dear, you are not just 'another acquaintance' to me," Layton said, putting his hand on top of hers before he'd even realised that he'd done so, "You are one of the most brilliant people I've ever met, who has stood by me and even saved my life on numerous occasions. If anything, I'm glad that a wonderful person like you would even remember me, not the other way around."

"Professor…"

They found themselves staring into each other's eyes for a length of time that was longer than would be considered comfortable. After noticing this, they both looked away, reddening slightly, and Layton dropped his grip on Emmy's hand.

"I hope that you don't think-" Layton mumbled.

"Please don't think that I-" Emmy stammered.

They looked back at each other, both still rather red in the face.

"Don't think that you what?" asked Layton.

"No, you first. What don't you want me to think?" Emmy insisted.

"I just… don't want you to get the wrong impression," he answered.

"Same here. We're both… good friends and that's that," Emmy agreed.

"That is indeed that…" Layton echoed.

"Is there something wrong with that being just that?" Emmy added, noting his tone.

"Nothing is wrong with that being that. Friendship is one of the most important things in the world. But if that is very definitely that, then it makes me curious as to if you'd ever accept that as ever being anything more than that," Layton blurted out.

After a pause in which she tried to keep up with all the thats in that statement, Emmy checked, "Are you asking me if I like you?"

"I'm… I suppose I'm enquiring as to if it would ever be possible that you might," Layton replied.

"Never thought you'd be interested," she hummed, looking thoughtfully at a point on the wall.

"Well, I'm not sure I've put a lot of thought into it, but… um…"

"Are you interested?" she checked.

"I wouldn't say that I'm not," he replied.

"Professor, I never thought that I'd have to say this to you, but please give me a straight answer," Emmy said, dropping her inspection of the wall and now staring directly at him again.

"All right then – I believe that I may be attracted to you and all the time you've been away has given me reason to dwell on what you mean to me. I hadn't particularly wanted to pursue romance again for various reasons, but if I ever was going to cross that bridge again then you'd most likely be the person I'd want to cross it with. I hope that answer is straight enough, because it's the truth as honestly as I could put it," Layton told her.

"Oh…" was all Emmy had to say for several moments. And then, "I see."

"Is that… not what you wanted to hear?" Layton questioned.

"No. Maybe it was so much what I wanted to hear that I didn't expect to realistically hear it," she confessed.

"So do you like me too?" he asked.

"You're a little slow at this, aren't you?" she replied, smirking across at him.

"I beg your pardon? Though I am far from perfect, I don't like to think of myself as being slow," huffed Layton.

"In this you are. But that's okay, because I like it about you. You're genuine and that's a trait any girl wants in a guy. And if you think that you'd like to try, I wouldn't mind helping you across that bridge," Emmy said.

"Perhaps… we could test the waters," Layton said, confusing himself with his own metaphors. Was he crossing the bridge or just going swimming?

"I'd like that," Emmy concluded.

"So, that's that then?" checked Layton.

"Please don't start that up again."

"Very well then, no more thats than are necessary," Layton promised.

"Good boy. Now, I have a few more people that I need to check in on now that I'm back in London, but I'll be coming back to pick you up around eight o'clock and I expect you to be dressed smartly, so that we can go out to that restaurant I've missed so much while I've been away. See you later, Professor," instructed Emmy, getting up and seeing herself out of the room.

"B-bye…" Layton mumbled, waving weakly as he watched her go.

Apparently he was going on a date tonight.

And that was very definitely that.


End file.
